Early Findings Using MARC™
- There is a wide range of total energy delivered when different operators use the same curing light. When 20 operators were asked to "cure" a simulated resin restoration using the same curing light for the same period of time, the amount of energy actually delivered ranged from 2.6 Joules/cm2 to 17.4 Joules/cm2.
- Dentists have no idea how much energy they are delivering to the simulated restoration. When tested using MARC™, those dentists who delivered the most energy did not know it, and those who delivered the least did not know it. Following instruction, they had a better understanding of the factors influencing energy delivery and were far better able to predct their outcome.
- Operator technique greatly effects energy delivered regardless of the light used. Therefore, simply choosing a more powerful light may not result in more energy being delivered.
- A powerful light, as measured in the laboratory, will not necessarily perform well intraorally. Different lights deliver very different amounts of energy at different distances, at different wavelengths and for different times.
- Providing appropriate instruction immediately improves the amount of energy delivered, especially by those who previously delivered the least amount of energy. The average increase in energy delivered following 45 minutes of group instruction was 2.1 Joules/cm2 at the first attempt following group instruction.
- MARC™ is highly interactve and instructive, and provides immediate feedback that all dental professionals can use. Dental professionals enthusiastically embrace this new-found source of critical information that helps to explain previously unexpected resin restoration failures.
As a result of the above, MARC™ has been adopted into the undergraduate teaching curriculum of a major North American dental school.